CSRC Newsletter August - September 2003

CSRC Newsletter Volume 2, Number 1

Director's Message

Welcome back! With this issue, we begin the second volume of our monthly newsletter. Needless to say, much has happened in California since our last issue: unprecedented and devastating budget cuts for education and other social services, the failure to resolve the fiscal crisis facing the state (meaning potentially more budget cuts next year), the start of a gubernatorial recall election, and the scheduling of the Racial Privacy Initiative for the Fall ballot. But rather than much-needed public discourse on these issues, we face a circus-like media environment focused on the celebrities who promise to solve all our problems, the way they do on stage or on the screen. And then there is Fox News, which recently accused Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante of being a Nazi because he belonged to the student group MEChA while he was in college. This attack conjures up the 1960s, when MEChA members and other student activists were placed on "un-American" lists because they sought educational reform. Fortunately, the Spanish-language press has taken the high road, occupying the role played by CNN a decade ago, providing in-depth coverage of the issues. With Latinos predicted to be the swing vote in the Fall elections, it is some comfort to know that they may also be among the most informed voters.

Here at the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, we continue to develop a broad range of research and archival projects related to the Chicano and Latino population. In the past two weeks, we have released two policy briefs, a research report, and the Fall issue of Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies. We have also received two major grants and hired a new librarian who brings extensive experience to the job. But the budget crisis has also resulted in a 20 percent permanent reduction in our operating budget. You can help us by simply being involved in some of our many activities:

--Subscribe to Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies
--Give to the CSRC Library Fund
--Support the upcoming Maquiladora Murders conference

This year, in addition to our research projects, CSRC has planned two summits, three conferences, faculty exchanges, and student workshops. We will continue our community forums on health, education, legislation, and the arts. We will also be launching a web-based archive of 30,000 Spanish-language songs-the first all digital collection at UCLA. This project is a partnership with the Strachwitz Frontera Collection, Arhoolie Foundation, Los Tigres del Norte Foundation, and the UCLA Music Library. There is a lesson here: By working together, we can continue to advance knowledge, disseminate information, and preserve our vital cultural and historical heritage.
 
Chon A. Noriega, Director and Professor
 

News

CSRC Appoints Permanent Librarian
After a national search, CSRC has appointed Yolanda Retter Vargas as its new Librarian, starting September 15, 2003. She will oversee the library, special collections, a new archival program, and ongoing collaborative preservation projects in music, film, and the visual arts. Retter has an MLS and MSW from UCLA and a PhD in American Studies from the University of New Mexcio. In addition to her experience managing the Chicano Studies collection for the Los Angeles County Library, Retter recently held the positions of Social Work and Reference Services Librarian at USC and as Staff Librarian overseeing the Lesbian Legacy Collection of the ONE/Gay and Lesbian Archives.
 
Rockefeller Foundation Grant
The Rockefeller Foundation awarded CSRC a $75,000 grant for its project, "A Ver: A Revisioning of Art History," a major research initiative and monograph series on the cultural, aesthetic, and historical contribution of Chicano, Puerto Rican, Cuban and other U.S. Latino artists.
 
Center for Community Partnerships Grant
The Center for Community Partnerships awarded CSRC a $39,000 grant to support its project, "Serving the Community, Preserving Cultural Heritage," a collaboration with Self-Help Graphics and Art. CSRC will work with the longstanding community-based arts center in East Los Angeles to organize and safeguard its on-site collections.
 
CSRC Showcases Archival Projects
In August, CSRC presented panels on its music, film, and visual arts archival projects at two conferences: the Trejo Foster Foundation's Memoria, Voz y Patrimonia: The First Conference on Latino/Hispanic film, Print and Sound Archives at UCLA on August 15-17; and the Annual Conference of the Society of American Archivists in Century City on August 24-25. These presentations were done in collaboration with CSRC project partners in the UCLA Music Library, UCLA Film and Television Archive, and the Arhoolie Foundation. CSRC Postdoctoral Fellow José M. Alamillo also presented at the "Memoria, Voz y Patrimonia" conference. CSRC Interim Librarian Alma Ortega served on the conference steering committee, CSRC Arts Project Coordinator Rita González curated the video program for the opening night, and CSRC Staff Isabel Castro-Melendez chaired the Poster Sessions/Installation committee.
 
Update: Maquiladora Murder Conference
This summer in San Antonio, Texas, the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center-a community co-sponsor for the Maquiladora Murders conference-hosted an exhibition of the MujerArtes altar installation, "Lamento por las mujeres de Juárez/Elegy for the Women of Juárez." The altar, commissioned by the CSRC, features a "tree of death" by master ceramicist, Veronica Castillo, and 25 accompanying ceramic plates, plaques, and sculptures made by the women of MujerArtes in homage to the innocent young victims from Juárez. CSRC Associate Director Alicia Gaspar de Alba served as media spokesperson for the event, receiving coverage on Univision, Telemundo, Texas Public Radio, and San Antonio's Catholic TV station (CTSA), as well as in the San Antonio Express-News. "Lamento por las mujeres de Juárez" will be exhibited at the UCLA Fowler Museum from November 1, 2003 - January 4, 2004, in conjunction with the "Ceramic Trees of Life: Popular Art from Mexico" exhibition and the Maquiladora Murders conference, and the proceeds from the silent auction of the altar pieces will be donated by MujerArtes to the families of the Juárez victims.
 
Chicano Faculty Receives Award
Congratulations to Associate Professor Otto Santa Ana who was awarded the prize for the Best Book of 2002 on Ethnic and Racial Ideology and/or Political Theory by the Section on Race, Ethnicity, and Politics of the American Political Science Association. CSRC is proud to have provided grant support for Santa Ana's book, Brown Tide Rising: Metaphors of Latinos in Contemporary American Public Discourse.
 

Events This Month

University of California Committee on Latino Research Conference
The UCCLR will host a conference on "Latinos in California II" at the Mission Inn in Riverside from September 11-13, 2003. Every five years UCCLR convenes a large conference at which it features all the research it has sponsored for a broad audience, which will include policy makers, elected officials, scholars, and dignitaries of the University. UCLA faculty and graduate students participating in the conference program include; Horacio Roque Ramirez, Kris Gutiérrez, Daniel Solárzano, Ruben Hernández-León, Leticia Osegura, Eric Avila, Abel Valenzuela, and E. Richard Brown. CSRC Director Chon Noriega and Associate Director Alicia Gaspar de Alba will also be presenting their research. In coordination with the Chicano Studies Center at UC-Santa Barbara, CSRC will co-sponsor a meeting of Chicano and Latino research center directors on Saturday, September 13, 3:00-5:00PM.
 

CSRC Library

Library Renovation Begins
In order to provide more and better services, CSRC Library has begun a long-term renovation and expansion plan. This summer the library added two new computer workstations. In early September, the library will install a compact shelving system that will increase available space by 50 percent. In addition, the incoming librarian will be adding a new multimedia system and a rare books display case.
 
Al Borde Newspaper Archive
In August, Al Borde editor Alicia Monsalve announced on KPFK Radio that the alternative rock newspaper will donate its entire print run to the CSRC Library. This important publication covers "rock en español" and "rock alternativo" in the Los Angeles area.
 
Diccionario de Mejicanismos
Psychiatry and Bio-behavioral Science Professor Carole Browner has donated a first edition copy of Francisco Santamaria's Diccionario de mejicanismos (1959). The book belonged to her late husband, Arthur Rubel, and will make an important addition to the rare books and first editions in the CSRC library holdings.
 
Library Fund Now On-Line
In order to continue our development of a state-of-the-art library serving the community, we are asking for contributions to the CSRC Library Fund. Donations will be used for (1) acquiring new books and reference works, (2) expanding the special archival collection, including the Hunger Strike special collection, (3) supporting library exhibitions in Chicano Studies, and (4) enhancing on-line and computer services. You can make donations to the CSRC Library Fund on-line at the CSRC home page.
CSRC Library now offers Document Delivery for more information go to CSRC Library Document Delivery.
 

CSRC Press

Latino Policy & Issues Brief No. 7
The murder of women in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, across the border from El Paso, Texas, has continued unabated for ten years. More through investigation of the killings and their causes is needed as is vigorous action by Mexican and U.S. authorities to stop them, says CSRC Associate Director Alicia Gaspar de Alba in the brief, "The Maquiladora Murders, Or, Who is Killing the Women of Juárez, Mexico?" The brief was featured extensively on Los Angeles radio and television stations and nationally on Univision. To read the brief, please go to Latino Policy & Issues Brief. An electronic version of the brief can be downloaded there. For print copies, please email Press.
 
Latino Policy & Issues Brief No 8
In occupations with many recently immigrated Latino workers, native-born workers earn lower wages than would be expected. Improving the wages of native-born workers requires improving the status of newcomer Latinos, says Dr. Lisa Catanzarite, CSRC Senior Research Sociologist, in the brief, "Wage Penalties in Brown-Collar Occupations." The brief, which examines 38 metropolitan areas, was featured on NPR and in The Wall Street Journal and Time Magazine, among other outlets. To read the brief, please go to Latino Policy & Issues Brief. An electronic version of the brief can be downloaded there. For print copies, please email Press.
 
CSRC Research Report No. 2
Despite significant accomplishments, Latino artists have yet to be adequately integrated into art historical scholarship, says CSRC Arts Project Coordinator Rita González in the latest research report, An Undocumented History: A Survey of Index Citations for Latino and Latina Artists. She identified ninety-three career and established artists whose work has been widely exhibited in group and solo shows and found that few were cited in art journals, art history textbooks, or art indexes. Click here to read or download the report.
 
Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies
The fall issue of Aztlán revolves around the deadly sexual violence against hundreds of women along the U.S.-Mexico border over the past ten years. Subscribe now and read about the conflict over causes and counting, the SPARC exhibit on the topic, new information from Spanish-language articles, and Lourdes Portillo's award-winning documentary about the murder, Señorita Extraviada. The issue also addresses the suburban migrant camps in California, the legendary Joaquin Murrieta, the cultural politics of Cinco de Mayo day, the relationships between Mexican immigrant elder care workers and their employers in Santa Barbara, and Ana Castillo's short story "La Miss Rose."
 
Subscribe Now
If you are not a subscriber to Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies, now is a great time to start! Our prices are going up next year, but if you send us a check for $50, we will subscribe you for two years at the old price. If you cannot afford to subscribe, make sure that your university library does. E-mail your postal address to CSRC Press in order to receive a subscription package.
 
New Contact Information
The CSRC Press has a new e-mail address: press@chicano.ucla.edu. All general inquiries regarding the journal, briefs, books, or reports should be directed to this address. Please update your directories accordingly.
 

Opportunities

Opportunities for Students
The CSRC welcomes undergraduate and graduate students with an interest in Chicano Studies to work as interns and volunteers in various areas of the Center. If interested, send an inquiry to Carlos M. Haro.
 

Contacts

To learn more about us, visit UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center.
To subscribe to this newsletter, e-mail Press and include in the body of your message the line (and nothing but the line)
SUBSCRIBE CHICANO STUDIES [first name, last name] (don't enter the brackets, just your name)
 

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